EENET asia Newsletters : Symposium issue April 2006 Contents

Opportunities for Vulnerable Children: Early Intervention and Education

David Spiro

Early identification and early intervention and education of children with visual impairment help to improve and sustain access to school! The key to the HKI approach in implementing the Opportunities for Vulnerable Children (OVC) project has been collaboration. The process of developing inclusive systems must itself be inclusive.

When implementing inclusive education, it is crucial that children who are marginalized or excluded are recognized and sought out. However, ensuring equal access to education requires more than just enrollment.

An inclusive system also seeks to provide essential support and services where and when needed. Essential services include itinerant teachers, classroom materials and devices as well as counseling. Support services may include safe transportation, materials to be used in the play-group or classroom and training teachers or parents in Braille. This article focuses on our experience in early intervention and education as an essential service to children with visual impairment in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Why Early Intervention and Education?
For children with visual impairment, as with all children with more individualized (learning) needs, early intervention and education plays a critical role in a child’s possibility to communicate, learn, become socially active as well as independent and improve the overall quality of life now and later in life.

In the case of a child with visual impairment, key elements of early intervention include learning and training in the following areas:

• Active daily living skills
• Orientation and mobility
• Early tactile, pre-Braille and Braille skills
• Improving communication skills
• Time management and daily routine activities
• Continued home learning: Parent and family participation
• Independence and choice activities
• Developing and improving interaction and communication

All such activities must be planned for the home environment in cooperation with parents and other family members
Learning these skills will prepare a child to participate and interact with both his/her siblings and peers. By fostering these through encouragement and supportive approaches, children, their families and communities realize a child’s potential earlier, allowing the child to increase his/her participation in the community, increasing independence and opportunities for the future.

Early intervention and education must take individualized approaches, in order to allow each child to enhance or discover his/her abilities at his/her own pace. Early intervention and education seeks to promote and facilitate this process by providing a stimulating environment that encourages growth and learning.

The Jakarta Experience: Development through Collaboration
The approach has combined, (1) policy development, (2) identification of children, (3) specifically designed classrooms, and (4) upgrading of teachers. These activities and its progress have required a close group of collaborators. Key partners have been: United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Indonesian Ministry of National Education; Provincial Education Department of DKI Jakarta (PDOE); Hilton Perkins International Program; University of Indonesia, Faculty of Psychology (UI); State University of Jakarta (UNJ); Rawinala Foundation for the Deaf-Blind; International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI); Singapore School for the Visually Handicapped; and individual families and advocates.

1. Policy Development: In partnership with MONE and PDOE, the program was able to allocate 7 full-time teachers to the Early Intervention Program, with 3 additional teachers from the Rawinala Foundation. The teachers constitute the core personnel working with the students. This was a challenge as Indonesia does not currently provide kindergarten or pre-school programs as part of its 9-year Basic Education Platform, which begins at the age of 7. Government policies were either amended, changed or rendered flexible by the government in order to facilitate this program, and may as such influence future (inclusive education) policy development. To ensure sustainability, policy changes must be sought to create a legitimate platform for government services to build upon.

2. Identification of children: In partnership with UNJ, HKI could use field workers as well as community– and neighborhood leaders to identify children who are blind or have low vision, who are not enrolled in schools in their neighborhoods. According to the MONE “National Plan for Education: Education for All,” only 49,647 of an estimated one million plus children with a disability have access to education. This underlines the need to identify children in their communities with visual impairment as well as other excluded children.

3. Classrooms: In partnership with MONE and PDOE, HKI acquired a building that was rebuilt and renovated into an Early Intervention Center and Education Centre. Recently, HKI and partners opened two new satellite centers that extend services to other parts of Jakarta.

4. Teacher Training: In partnership with the Hilton Perkins Program, HKI developed 18-month training modules for newly assigned teachers. Trainings are implemented by HKI and the Hilton Perkins International Program in Jakarta every 9 months, with monitoring and evaluation periods in between. These trainings have focused on developmental abilities, individualized education techniques, curriculum development, and maximizing the newly developed Early Intervention and Education Center.

The present situation
In 2003, between 5 and 8 children with visual impairment were enrolled in early intervention and education program at various times. Currently, 44 are enrolled in the program, including both part-time and full-time students. Another 11 children are on the waiting list and 26 are going through the assessment / enrollment process. In 2006, HKI plans to work with partners to expand early intervention and education services with the launch of 2 more satellite centers, the introduction of home visits, and the addition of over 25 teachers, teacher’s assistants and student teachers to both the early intervention, education and support services program.

David Spiro is OVC Program Director with Helen Keller International - Indonesia.
He can be contacted at: Helen Keller International, Jl. Bungur Dalam 23 A-B, Kemang, Jakarta 12730, Indonesia
Web: www.hki.org; Email: dspiro@hki-indonesia.org

EENET asia Newsletters : Symposium issue April 2006 Contents